The courts
of Leninski and Kastrychnitski districts of Mahiliou have dismissed the
complaints against non-inclusion of representatives of the Belarusian Popular
Front “Adradzhenne” in local constituency election commissions.

According
to human rights defender Barys Bukhel, the sitting of Kastrychnitski district
executive committee that approved the composition of election commissions
lasted for 10 minutes only and failed to consider the submitted nominations. The
sitting of Leninski district administration was secret, as local human rights
defenders and observers were not informed on its date and place.

“The administration
of Kastrychnitski district failed to present a copy of its decision. The
information published in the press does not mention the election commissioners’
occupations,” says Mr. Bukhel.

The
decision to dismember BPF representatives was groundless, says the human rights
defender. “Every commission, except for those located in hospitals and military
units, has 15 members, while the Electoral Code allows having up to 19
commissioners. As a result, 6 representatives of the BPF “Adradzhenne” were not
included in the constituency election commissions of Kastrychnitski district,
and 13 activists were not allowed working on the commissions of Leninski
district. One of the reasons for the decision was that the BPF’s regional
branch is not situated at its legal address. However, it is not the district
administration’s business, but that of the regional department of justice,
which does not have any claims for the organization,” says Mr. Bukhel.

During the
court hearing at Kastrychnitski District Court, representative of the executive
authorities Dzmitry Tsimafeyenka said that the BPF’s members were not included
in the election commissions because some of them were unemployed or retired,
and some had administrative and criminal convictions.